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An Early Canine Meeting

Signed and dated 1855
Oil on canvas 29 x 37 ins
This is one of the most historic of all dog paintings. It depicts a scene at Jemmy (or Jimmy) Shaw's Queen's Head Tavern in 1855. Leads, as they were sometimes called, bridge the gap between the early baiting and fighting sports and dog shows, as we now know them. It shows Shaw and many of his regulars, all men, for the ladies had their own shows held in more genteel surroundings. A number of early breeds are shown - Bulldogs, Bull Terriers, Black and Tan Terriers and Toy Spaniels. The walls are covered with prints depicting aspects of sporting life, including boxing, for Shaw was a skillfull lightweight pugilist of his day.
Usage: Q10-27

© The Kennel Club

Fox Terriers at Newstead Abbey

Oil on canvas 35 x 27.5 ins
This painting was completed for the 6th Duchess of Newcastle in c. 1870. A composite picture, it is reasonable to assume that not all the dogs with still alive when it was painted. Historically important, it shows 31 dogs at a transitional time for the Fox Terrier when it was moving from being purely a hunt terrier to one of a show dog as well. Trimmer, the dog to the right of the rabbits, was the first Fox Terrier to win a prize at any British Dog show

© The Kennel Club

Ch Wimpole Peter

Signed and dated 1901
Oil on canvas 24 x 29 ins
Ch Wimpole Peter is one of six paintings Henry Reginald Cooke commissioned of his Flat Coated Retrievers from Maud Earl. Peter was bred by F Keen and was by Black Drake, a dog bred and owned by Harding Cox, and a grandson of Ch Dareth, considered to be the partriarch of all present day Flat Coats'. Peter's great-granddaughter, Culham Lassie, a golden Flat Coated Retriever, was the grand-dam of the Golden Retriever, Dual Ch Balcombe Boy, bred by Viscount Harcourt, and an influential sire who is probably behind all today's Golden Retriever titleholders